LordKael

That is what the picture is showing. I'm not 100% sure how it is possible, but If the relative velocities were very low, and the body's gravity bent the trajectory of the spacecraft's orbit just enough, a perfect orbit could be achieved without any insertion burn. This would, of course, require an intercept window with almost no margin of error, and an orbit that had a velocity very close to the target body.

Make sure that your pile of debris is far enough away from KSC that it's outside of the physics range. Otherwise, you'll be playing Kerbal Space Powerpoint

The specific mod SM used in the video you're referring to was the Interstellar mod. It has a MM patch for the Seismometer which adds a new experiment, the "impactor probe" data collection

I use KAS/KIS, and keep a full stocked maintenance/repair vehicle prepped and ready to go at all times just for stuff like this... Ladders, lights, antenna, and small docking ports frequently are forgotten on missions, and having a box of spares floating around is very cost-effective!

I have half a dozen derelicts in orbit around Duna, from my abandoned base attempt using USI-LS

Well, you have a couple of options: First: You can launch multiple landers at the same time, if you have the tech/skill to. That could potentially cut your launch count in half or even thirds. Second: You can install a mod called "Hyperedit" which allows you to enter values for orbital conditions, and teleport your landers from the launch pad to Munar Orbit. Third: You can use the tools in the VAB or SPH to show you the CoM and CoT. Look at these forums, and you can see the ideal placement for CoT vs. CoM. Essentially, what you're going for is a lander with 3-6 contact points spread relatively wide apart. From the contact point (landing gear, structural elements, or engines) to the CoM should probably less than a 45degree angle from the ground. In all honesty, Munar and Minmus landings are not terribly hard, and Minmus landings are extremely slow and require very little dV/fuel, so it might behove you to head there before tackling the Mun. Best of luck, and if you want to post screenshots of your designs in this thread, I'd be happy to offer advice!

I was being genuine. I'm agreeing that the terrain needs to be made more hazardous.

I've landed close to a hundred times across over half the bodies in the game, and I've only once ran into an issue of landing on the edge of a terrain feature. Any time the landing fails, it is because of slope. I wholeheartedly agree

My understanding is that if you dock a new module to it, it will register as a new ship.

The above replies have given a couple different instances in which an aerobraking maneuver is perfectly viable. I'm not sure you can really say "of any kind" if the only type of aerobraking maneuver is a ridiculously aggressive one. I personally have managed to bring my velocity down considerably with aerobraking, even at Eve.

Both times I've landed a Kerbal on the surface of Eve, they went down in a glider, and came back up in a separate Ascent Vehicle.

I hesitate to name any KSP player who isn't where you are now. There's always a more efficient way to do something old, or something new to do.

Watch a video tutorial on how to fly SSTO spaceplanes. There is NO reason for you to spend that much on fuel. Learning to fly them efficiently is half the battle, and not the most intuitive thing in the world.

Also, you can basically jump off gilly and be on an escape trajectory, so whats the point?

My solution for landing a USI Karibou rover on Duna and Mun was to bring it in nose first with a skycrane assembly attached to the rear, so that the nose pointed down. On my Mun landing, I used a sepratron attached to the nose (which i later recycled using KAS) to flip it belly up, and used the rover's RCS/VTOL to land it. On duna, I just deployed chutes in sequence to spin it and bring it level before slowing down to land.

An idea that I think is wonderful, but I want other's feedback/improvements on: A new company that offers contracts for the player to do highly dangerous/risky maneuvers and high speed/risk atmospheric flying, centered around Points of Interest, anomalies, and landmarks. For example, "fly a manned ship through a Mun arch above X velocity". These contracts would only appear after the player had reached a certain reputation level, and would be high penalty/high reward contracts. These contracts might be things like: ~ "Threading the needle" on a Mun Arch ~ Reaching a specific velocity and maintaining it while below a specific altitude ~ Making the Kessel Run in less than 12 Parsecs ~ Rendezvousing with a falling piece of space debris Also, mods could have access to this company's contracts, and so a LS mod might as a player to send a ship of a given mass/crew to a certain destination. This would force the player to send a fast ship with the bare minimum fuel and LS to complete the round trip, or risk a Kerbal dying. This of course, would be a huge blow to the player's reputation, and would cause the contracts to dry up for a little while, or until the player's rep crossed a threshold. I want to hear everybody's thoughts on this!

Yes. As has been discussed all across these forums, contracts suck for 101 reasons. However, the "space cowboys" idea seems like a fun contract theme.... Have a new company that requests extremely dangerous or highly precise feats of orbital mechanics or flying, and only players with a sufficiently high rep be offered contracts by them.

As fun as that would be, it would really only be a challenge the first couple times. Once you had an approach figured out, I feel like it would get monotonous.

There are so many options for extending the LS that there should never be a reason to kill/strand a kerbal.

This is the best design I have ever seen for getting a rover to where I need it.... and by best, I mean "most kerbal" and "least likely to work on the first try". Also, "will never be funded."

Since IRL, gravity is a force, this seems to be a damn good way of doing it. However, in a computer program, there are almost always half a dozen concerns that don't exist in real life. I give it a 66% chance of success. Keep in mind that that would require some way to track/navigate/react to this belt.... As in, we would have to sit and watch our ships fly through, and adjust course to avoid while still far enough out to affect a course with an acceleration that is <5% of orbital velocity. That, or we would have to fly North/South of the Asteroid Belt, or maybe clear paths through it that lined up with transfer windows.

I think that the fact that the various instruments are only different on a cosmetic level is a major failing. I mostly agree with this. I think that there should be an orbital scanner type piece that can reveal points of interest as it passes over them. Gives a real reason behind what orbit it goes in. There should be a point to running: ~an Atmospheric Analysis.... can a Kerbal take their helmet off without dying? ~a temperature scan with a probe: can a Kerbal survive an EVA here? ~for the mystery goo and Science Jr.: what will happen to various ship parts if they're in this environment? Maybe the atmosphere of Eve is so hostile that a specific brand of parts lose integrity, impacting lander/rover design. Barometer: do planes work? if so, how well? maybe provide an ingame reference source that shows pressure vs weight, with a line for required lift. That way, a player needs to run a pressure scan and a gravity scan, then consult the table in order to determine whether a given plane design will function. Just my two cents.

I brought a lander down on the edge of a crater, right on the lip. Was going to pose it for a cool screenshot and then take off again. The lander tipped, and in my panic to save the crew, I fired the main engines. While pointed down.

I think it should just automatically add new data, and the 500 data cap only affects the speed at which it is converted to science.

Got the first stage of my Duna Exploratory Mission landed and set up. Using the USI suite of mods (Karibou Rover, USI LS, USI MKSL), I plan to have a self sufficient base on the surface of Duna.